Two Florida cops off the job for KKK connections

A Central Florida town is reeling from the news that two police officers are no longer on the job because a confidential FBI report said they are members of a local Ku Klux Klan chapter. One officer was the deputy police chief of Fruitland Park.

The FBI report was provided to Police Chief Terry Isaacs by the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). It said that Deputy
Chief David Borst and Officer George Hunnewell were members of a
“subversive organization,” Isaacs said, adding that he
could not be more exact because he was not authorized to release
that information, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Isaacs was preparing an internal investigation into the two
officers on Friday, based on the report, which cited only
confidential FBI informants. He told WFTV that there was no
documentation or proof that the men were involved outside of the
sources. Based on that information, the police chief placed both
men on administrative leave.

Borst, a 20-year veteran of law enforcement, resigned when Isaacs
confronted him, though he denied any involvement in the group. An
FBI informant said the deputy chief was involved with the Klan
from 2005 to 2009, according to Click Orlando. Borst also
resigned from his post as the Fruitland Park fire chief.

"It's a tough situation. He was my assistant," Isaacs
told the
Sentinel, adding he had not witnessed behavior by Borst that
would substantiate the charge. "I'm not saying I believe him.
I'm not saying I don't believe him. But I've read the report, and
it's convincing."

Isaacs asked the Fruitland Park city manager for approval to fire
Hunnewell based on a review of his record with the department.
The officer had previously been demoted from corporal in 2013 and
received five “letters of counseling” in the past year for
conduct, attitude and performance. Three informants linked
Hunnewell to the KKK from 2005 to 2009.

"I just had no faith in him," Isaacs said to the
Sentinel, referring to Hunnewell. The police chief told the Daily
Commercial that the former corporal was a marginal employee.

Isaacs sought counsel from Chief Deputy State Attorney Ric
Ridgway before beginning the investigation into the two
policemen.

While it is not illegal to be a member of the KKK, it is against
department policy to belong to an anti-government organization,
the Daily Commercial reported. Ridgway told the Sentinel that
such membership can cause problems for state prosecutors in a
case based on evidence provided by a KKK member or supporter.

"It's not a crime to be a member of the KKK, even if you are
the deputy chief. It's not a crime to be stupid," Ridgway
said. "It's not a crime to hate people. It may be despicable,
it may be immoral, but it's not a crime."

This is not the first time that Fruitland Park police officers
have been tied to the Klan. In 2009, pictures surfaced of Officer
James Elkins wearing his police uniform, with a Ku Klux Klan robe
and pointy hood over top, one hand resting casually on his gun
and the other gripping his belt, the Sentinel reported. Elkins
resigned when asked about the photographs and KKK documents
promoting him to "District Kleagle." That information had been
anonymously mailed to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

At the beginning of this year, Orlando’s ABC affiliate
WFTV reported on the activities of the KKK’s Florida chapter,
after “its members' activities have started heating up in
central Florida.”

The station interviewed the grand dragon and a new member at the
end of January about recruitment fliers and other actions by the
group.

"What you've seen is just the tip of the iceberg right
now," said the grand dragon who oversees the Florida
chapter. "We have police officers, paramedics, judges.
They're everywhere."

Isaacs expressed shock at the information unearthed in the FBI
report. "The last thing I was expecting to hear in the year
2014 was for a professional law-enforcement officer to be a
member of a subversive organization," he told the Sentinel.

Others in Florida expressed dismay as well.

“Yes, this is 2014, but even now Florida is near the top when
it comes to being home to hate groups. Despite all our progress,
we still have work to do,” Tampa Bay Times columnist Ernest
Hooper
wrote.

The FBI assured Isaacs that no other officers have been linked to
the KKK, WFTV reported.

"We are here, we are in place, and I want the public to know
this type of conduct will not even be remotely tolerated,"
Isaacs said to
My News 13.